


Unchanging, Everchanging

by Altun_Heiral



Series: Vermillion Fire [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Gen, also can insert lucina here yelling about me bullying altun, lucina voice: LET ALTUN BE HAPPY, this is just stuff about altun's past
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-26
Updated: 2021-02-26
Packaged: 2021-03-17 20:09:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,349
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29722587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Altun_Heiral/pseuds/Altun_Heiral
Summary: Altun grapples with her parents murder while growing up in a new tribe, though through her struggles she learns to call them family and love them as she did her parents.
Series: Vermillion Fire [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2184399
Comments: 2





	Unchanging, Everchanging

**Author's Note:**

> i like song titles for story titles if no one noticed. Some of them are songs from the ShB soundtrack *coughs* anyway this is just stuff about Altun's past and how she left the steppe to being with !

“There’s a little one over here!” Altun could feel her head pounding, her ears ringing loudly. Everything was a blur. Every ilm of her body was in searing pain. There were voice all around her. She was afraid to open her eyes to see what was going on, although the voices didn’t sound hostile. “There’s two over here, but there’s nothing we can do for them.” another voice called out. Altun’s eyes shot open. She remembered what happened, where she was and what she was doing. She tried to sit upright but screamed in pain as she did, grasping at her leg. Altun glanced down and saw blood covering her leg and abdomen. There was so much blood. She wanted to scream. Her bag lay abandoned a short ways from where she sat. Her shirt was torn, her shawl soaked in blood. Altun tried to look around, she had to find her parents. She was surrounded by the faces of a tribe she did not know, as they were not hers. They didn’t seem unkind, and an older woman who’s horns fit elegantly along the sides of her head knelt before her. She appeared to be a shaman, or medicine woman of some kind. Altun’s eyes were welling with tears. The woman smiled gently as she removed her shawl and placed it gently around Altun’s shoulder’s.

“You’re safe now little one. We’ll take care of you.” she placed her hand gently on Altun’s face. Altun glanced around again until she found two older men, whom appeared to be hunters as they were armed with spears and daggers crouched around what appeared to be two bodies. Altun’s eyes got wide. She realized who they were. She went to move to crawl towards them but screamed again as her leg throbbed in pain. Blood slowly ran down her face from a gash that sat right above her eyebrow. She could feel a pair of arms around her as she started to scream. She wanted to struggle but she couldn’t. Her body was aching, and all she could do was crumble in the arms of her saviours and weep.

They carried her back to where the rest of their tribe was. Her wounds had been bandaged as best they could to survive the trip. She had overheard some of them speaking about going to retrieve her parents’ bodies, so they could be given a proper burial. Of all the wounds Altun had sustained, the gash in her leg was the worst. It was a deep cut and would take quite some time to heal properly. Altun was whining, struggling against the grip the woman had on her. She knew it was pointless to struggle, to cry again. She wanted her parents. Her family. She wanted to go home, but she had no one to go home to now. The woman held her close, caring and gentle. Altun didn’t know what was going to happen to her. All she knew was that she was alone.

She could tell they were near Reunion. She had been there a few times with members of her tribe, as well as with her parents. Altun had several of the tribe members gathered around her, tending carefully to her wounds. A young girl, who looked to be not much older than Altun herself, quietly padded across the earth over to her. She smiled slightly, though it was somewhat sad. In her hands was Altun’s bag, which she sat down carefully near Altun before taking her leave so the older members of the tribe could continue caring for her. Altun reached, trying to grab her bag. The woman took a notice of this and pulled the bag closer to Altun. Opening it up Altun reached in and withdrew a rather large blanket, adorned with the members of her tribe. This was all she had left of her parents now. Of her mother. She clutched it tightly in her hands. Altun winced as she felt the woman place a salve on her leg. She heard the woman apologize for causing her pain. Altun wanted to laugh weakly, as if it was her fault, their fault, that she was like this. She knew she would be dead if they’d not have found her. She only wished they’d been in time to save her parents. While not as old as the others from this tribe around her, Altun wasn’t young enough to not understand what was going on. She knew what happened and she knew that she was lucky that when she hit her head on that rock that it didn’t do more damage beyond the gash. She knew she was lucky that spear missed any of her major organs. She knew she was lucky that, despite how mangled her leg was, that she would indeed be able to walk again. Altun knew she was lucky to be alive and that her parents last dying act was most likely to protect her.

It was a few days before Altun was able to put weight on her leg again. The other members of the tribe had tried talking to her, but most of the time Altun spent wrapped in her mother’s blanket by the fire. They were the Kahkol tribe. A tribe made up of orphans and refugees or those who were cast out from their previous tribes. She also had found out the woman who had tended to her wounds was a woman from the Mol tribe who was a refugee in her youth and had decided to stay with this tribe rather than return. Altun knew very well she couldn’t leave, this is where she had to stay. Her new home. Her new family. Everyone had been kind, she couldn’t be upset for that. They weren’t holding her captive and they made it clear if she wished to leave when she was well again, she could. However, it’s not like Altun knew where to go or where her tribe had gone. She was going to have to make a choice of whether to stay or go. No matter how much it hurt, she was sure she would stay. She would be safe and there’s no doubt someone here would take her in.

She began slowly adjusting to being with the Kahkol tribe. It was getting easier to walk, though the woman of the Mol tribe, who was taking quite a liking to her as she had no children of her own, redid the bandaging and applied a new dose of salve every day. Altun admired her dedication. It must take quite an effort to care for a heavily injured child. One night while she was redoing the bandages around her abdomen, she told Altun a story about the Mol and their traditions. Altun had her mother’s blanket drawn around her shoulders. She was listening with great intent. Although it was taking time, she was slowly opening up to the other tribe members. She told Altun of how they worship the elder gods, both Azim and Nhaama. It was perhaps her early interactions with her that allowed Altun to come to terms with losing her parents and her place now among the Kahkol tribe. The women eventually revealed her name to be Mide Mol-Kahkol. She explained that many of them either took their old tribes name and merged it with Kahkol, while some retained their old tribe names or took the name Kahkol completely.

The funeral for Altun’s parents was a rough night for Altun. The tribe had put together a special service for them, burying their bodies along the banks of the Yat Khaal. Altun hadn’t been taught many prayers from the Ejinn tribe, so instead Mide wrote out a traditional Mol prayer for the dead. Their funeral made it permenant. Her parents were gone. They could never come back. It was shortly after the funeral for Altun’s parents that Mide officially adopted Altun. Though she was quiet for the first few years of her life in the Kahkol tribe, Mide told her stories frequently about the Mol, and of herself growing up after losing her family. It was this kind of kindness that helped Altun learn to move on. However, there were still nights where she felt guilty that her parents died for her, and so she could curl up in her mother’s blanket, still hoping it was but a dream.

Mide taught Altun to hunt. However, Mide also taught her magic, taught her what aether was. Altun would help the others around her age in the camp, but also she learned to make friends. Somehow, she reverted into her old role she had when she was still Ejinn. She would watch the younger children, read them stories and play with them while the elders were working or the others hunted. Mide noted that Altun had a gentleness about her, even for someone so young who had been through so much. Someone whom by all accounts, was still mentally and emotionally recovering. Altun began weaving baskets again. She began fishing. She even learned to shoot a bow, and the tribe’s leader was quite impressed with how good of a shot she was. They took her in, saved her life, and gave her a new home when they had no obligations to do so. Though it was hard for Altun at first, she tried to make the most of her tragedy, and make the most of her second chance to live.

Though she was given a second lease on life, taught about the wonders of magic and aether, Altun still struggled. As she grew older, she found herself out by the Path of the Craven. There were times she wanted to cross the bridge to find her tribe, and she had that right, Mide had told her if she ever wanted to leave she could. She was too young to know their travel patterns or the rivers they swam from place to place. While she was happy, she sometimes longed for the past. The past that sometimes took the form of swirling memories at the bottom of the ravine at Path of the Craven. If she was gone and alone for too long, somehow Mide knew where she was, just like a mother. Just like her mother. Mide didn’t try to understand Altun’s emotions, as Mide had coped with her own losses differently. However, she did listen to what Altun had to say. When she was done, she would follow Mide home. Somehow, a voice to listen to kept her from chasing memories into the ravine.

She was Altun’s first crush. A beautiful girl with long brown hair. She had been from the Qalli tribe. She would always sing while with Altun when they would watch the younger children. She introduced herself as Caalun, in the most sing song way that was possibly imaginable. Caalun used to get up in Altun’s face, slow and steady, just to see the colour rush to Altun’s face. She would sing her songs when they would eat around the fire at night. She was a fierce hunter, the best Altun had ever seen. She was also a gentle healer. The part Altun loved about her most was the stunning green of her eyes. Caalun always took note of Altun’s staring. There was even a night where she kissed Altun’s cheek before going to bed. The flirtations, and Altun’s affections were short lived however, as Caalun was killed while hunting one day. Mide would recall not being able to find words to comfort Altun, who had by all accounts learned to trust a whole new tribe of people, to be so young and to fall in love, just to have it torn away. They never found Caalun’s body. The tribe doubted she would have been killed by an animal, thus many believed she may have been murdered. Altun learned to push the question out of her mind. She learned to jewelry from a fellow tribe member. Altun used this as a way of putting jewels and stones on a string, a memory for the people she lost. It started with her parents. Then there was Caalun.

Altun was around 16 years of age when Caalun passed on. Altun took to making jewelry that she could sell, having took up her place at an empty stall in Reunion. While Mide was happy that she seemed to have found some sort of purpose after Caalun’s passing, she also began to wonder if it’s truly what Altun wanted. She seemed to have taken up selling goods for the tribe as a distraction. While she would never tell anyone in the tribe, nor Mide why she had chosen to work in Reunion. Altun gave all her money she earned, aside a small amount which she kept for herself, to the tribe’s leader for the tribe to buy things they could possibly need down the the line. The tribe leader, who was a very strong man of the the Kha tribe, was eternally grateful for how selfless Altun had been since they rescued her all those years ago, he could feel a stirring in her that perhaps she herself could not sense quite yet. She later dropped Ejinn from her name, and finally took the name Kahkol.

The tribe was putting together a celebration of life. Altun’s 18th year of living was arriving soon. The whole tribe wished to celebrate with her, and refused to let her work herself to death on such a joyous day. Mide was particularly happy, as she also planned to speak with Altun about whether with the tribe was where she was mean to be forever. Ever since Altun had joined them, and more so after teaching her wonders of magic and aether, she felt there was a greater calling for Altun than just the confines of the steppe. Though grateful for her life being saved, for being taken in rather than left to the wolves, Altun never truly adjusted to to being with the Kahkol’s. She threw herself at work, at helping sustain their way of living. She was selfless and did everything for others and never thought to care for herself.

Mide sat Altun down once the celebrations had died down somewhat to talk to her about possibly leaving the steppe. Altun first thought Mide was pushing her away, however Mide made it known to her that she wanted Altun to find her way in the world, even if that place wasn’t on the steppe. She also made it clear that she would support whatever Altun did, whether that meant leaving or staying with them. Altun simply told Mide she would think on it, which is all Mide could ask of her in the end. She allowed Altun to go finish celebrating with the others around her age while Mide watched on. With no biological children of her own, Mide had the pleasure of watching Altun grow older, but also watch the pain of a girl who lost so much, and was clearly lost in the world as to what to do and where to go.

Nearing her 19th nameday, Altun told Mide she planned to leave the steppe. She would go to Kugane first, from there she was unsure completely, but contemplated Eorzea. She told Mide she had thought long and hard and she knew that she couldn’t stay here forever. While she loved everyone here, she still felt alone and empty at times. She didn’t know if leaving would fill the void, or somehow fix things, but she had to try. Mide was glad to hear that Altun was going to try to find the place she belonged. It was never easy for her, she had her whole world ripped apart, having to adjust to being in a new tribe. Then to have fallen in love with Caalun, only to have her ripped away from her grasps as well. Mide told Altun she would prepare a special group of things for her to take as she traveled, so she would always have a piece of her adopted mother with her.

When the day came for Altun to leave, the tribe gathered and celebrated. It was not a sad occasion, to which Altun was grateful for. They celebrated her life and hard work, and also that she find her own path. The celebration leading up to her departure lasted several day, and Altun remembered it was one of the few times in her later teen years that she laughed. Just as promised, Mide prepared a special pack of things for Altun. A grimoire full of the magic Mide had taught her. The self same grimoire would later become the catalyst for her beginnings as a Summoner. Mide had a special bow made for her, tied with feathers and stones and jewels for protection and strength. A quiver of arrows, painted with the colours of all the tribes that made up the Kahkols. A letter to open at a later date, from Mide herself. It was a letter to open when she found where she belonged, filled with well wishes and congratsulations.

The tribe leader gave her an entire pack of food to last her travels to Kugane. He said a special prayer, wishing her well and making sure she knew that should she desire to return, even if only to visit and tell of her adventures, that she could do so at any time. For they would always be a home to her. The others her age gave her things like a shawl to wear, warm clothing for the colder nights, and talismans of protection. A small child whom Altun had looked after gave her a small wooden carved bird. She told Altun she hoped it gave her wings. With a laugh Altun hugged all the children she had looked after all these years. She turned back to Mide, who planned to walk her to Reunion to see her off.

In Reunion, Altun ran her fingers across the wood of the stall she worked at for the better part of the last few years. There it stand, empty once more. She was nervous now. Scared to leave, wondering if this was really the right choice. There was no turning back. She turned to Mide, who pulled her into an embrace. It reminded Altun so much of her mother. She could never replace her mother, Mide herself knew this all too well, as did Altun. However, there was no doubt that Altun would not have gotten on as well as she had with the Kahkol tribe had Mide not been the one to look after her. She was grateful for the love Mide showed to her, even though there was no blood relations between them. She still showed her a mother’s love from the day she tended to her wounds for the first time.

It was time to go now. Altun pulled away and for the first time since Caalun had died, she wanted to cry. She had to be strong, so she held it back and swallowed her tears. She thanked Mide for all she did, all the times she listened to Altun’s desperate pleas for wanting her parents back, and not judging her emotions. There was a final hug before Altun began walking towards the cave that connected the Ruby Sea to the Azim Steppe. She glanced back over her shoulder at Mide.

“Altun. No matter where you go, do not forget this land or the love we have for you. You will always find a home here with us.” Mide’s voice was firm, yet threatened to crack.

“I will never forget any of you. Or the love you showed me. Thank you, for saving my life and giving me a chance to live it.” Altun reached up to wipe the tears haphazardly from her eyes before turning and walking on through the tunnel. This was it. There was no turning back. From here forward, she would find where she belonged in this world. Even if it wasn’t on the steppe.


End file.
